by L. A. Casey
I groggily pushed my covers from my body and walked in the direction of the vibrations. I hissed and opened my eyes when my knee knocked into something hard. I reached down and rubbed the pain away before standing upright.
It didn’t take me long to realise I wasn’t in my bedroom, and it also didn’t take long for the memories of last night’s events to slam into me with the impact of a train. I gasped and flung my hand over my mouth. I spun around and widened my eyes when they landed on the sleeping form of Ryder Slater. My heart slammed into my chest as I took him in. His tanned, scuttled body was only half covered by his bed sheets and I had only God to thank for that.
I had sex with him, I told myself. Twice.
I let a huge smile over take my face, and barely contained myself from doing a happy dance. I had sex with a Greek fucking God. Two bloody times! Aideen was going to piss herself when I gave her a play by play of how well Ryder turned me out. The soreness I felt between my legs, and on other parts of my body, was a delicious reminder of just how well he fucked me.
I reluctantly tore my eyes away from him when I realised my phone was still vibrating.
“Shit,” I whispered and looked around for my clutch.
I found it near my discarded dress, and quickly picked it up. I retrieved my phone and almost passed out when I saw it wasn’t a phone call that had my phone vibrating, it was my alarm to wake me up for school. I checked the time and saw it was quarter past seven which meant I had forty-five minutes to get to class otherwise I was so fucked.
Bollocks.
I was about to put my phone away when I saw I had two text messages. One message was from Aideen, and the other from my sister. Aideen, unsurprisingly, wanted to meet up later to hear every detail of my night with Ryder, while Bronagh was letting me know something else.
Bronagh: I took a 5r out of ur drawer in ur room 4 me lunch, ok? U didnt leav me any €, but you probs were still drunk when u left 4 school so its cool. I didnt hear u come home last nyt, but if u hav a headache let me know nd I’ll make some chicken soup 4 u so u can eat it when u com home. C u l8r, luv u xx
I smiled as I read my sister’s message and wanted to give her a big hug. She was a darling girl and had a beautiful heart that I wished she would open up and share. It wasn’t right that only I got to see how brilliant she was.
I thumbed out a reply that I was okay—which wasn’t a lie, I was so okay—and told her I forgot about her lunch money. I apologised and told her I’d see her later when she came home from school. I didn’t let on that I stayed out all night, if she thought I came home then that’s exactly what I was going to let her think.
I didn’t know how she would receive my night with Ryder, so I figured it’d be best to keep it—him—to myself.
I put my phone back in my clutch, and silently scrambled around Ryder’s room. I found my bra that Ryder aimlessly flung behind him, put it on then got my dress back on. I picked up my heels, gripped my clutch and stared at Ryder for a few moments.
I wanted to wake him up and say goodbye, but I couldn’t because I was afraid I would cry. I wasn’t a fool; I knew it was a one-night stand. Not only was the sex off the charts amazing, but also his company made me smile. I was pissed for allowing myself to form a slight attachment but I couldn’t help it. He was really great, and my night with him was incredible and I would remember it forever.
Leave before you cry and he wakes up and freaks out, my mind sneered.
I sighed as I looked at him once more before turning and tip toeing over to his bedroom door. I opened the door and without looking back, I stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind me. I exhaled a deep breath and walked over to the stairs and began to walk down them. I stopped when a door on the floor above opened and closed. I looked up and froze when one of Ryder’s brothers leaned over the banister and smiled when he saw me. I remembered his name and cleared my throat.
“Hey, Alec.”
He winked. “Morning, beautiful.”
I felt my cheeks flush. “I have to leave and go to school, will you tell Ryder goodbye for me? Tell him I had so much fun.”
Alec’s laughter was low and rumbling. “You got it.”
I wiggled my fingers at him, gave him a smile then continued my descent of the stairs. I blew out a breath when I reached the bottom of the stairs and moved towards the front door but gasped when I heard movement upstairs.
“Shit,” I heard Ryder’s voice shout. “Shit, shit, shit!”
Oh, fuck. I thought. He was coming downstairs.
I told myself to run, but I couldn’t, I was frozen to the spot as Ryder ran down the stairs, only coming to a stop when he saw me. He was wearing boxer shorts now, and I sort of wished he were fully naked again.
“There you are,” he breathed, his shoulders sagging with what looked like relief. “Where are you going, sweetness?”
I swallowed. “I didn’t think I’d be good at sayin’ goodbye so I figured it’d be best if I left quietly.”
I didn’t know what to do so I turned and made a motion to move towards the door, but arms came around my waist, a hard body moulded into my back and hot breath tickled my neck, bringing me to a halt.
“Why would you say goodbye to me?” Ryder murmured as he causally trailed his tongue over my skin, causing me to shudder.
“Because, um, it was a one-night stand and—oh.”
I lifted my hands and covered his, squeezing as he began to suck on my neck, directly on my sweet spot. My eyes fluttered shut and a moan escaped me.
“Sounds like you don’t want to say goodbye to me at all,” Ryder murmured, his amusement obvious in his tone.
I licked my lower lip. “I have to go to school.”
Ryder hummed. “At the university in town, right?”
I nodded, barely containing another moan. “That’s right.”
“Can you not call in sick?” he asked, sucking on my neck once more.
I gasped. “I’ve never called in sick.”
His hold tightened on me. “There’s a first time for everything.”
I swallowed. “I don’t know...”
“Come on, beautiful,” Ryder murmured. “Spend some more time with me, please?”
He was killing me.
“Why?” I asked a little breathlessly.
“I’m not ready to let you leave,” he replied, surprising the hell out of me.
I turned in his arms and looked up at him. “It’s because I’m a sex goddess, isn’t it?”
Ryder smiled and it made me smile too.
“You’ve figured me out,” he mused. “I want to keep you here to avail of your wickedly naughty pussy, and your talented mouth.”
I playfully slapped his arm. “Ryder!”
He rubbed my cheeks when they stained with heat.
“It amazes me how shy you are during normal conversation,” he smirked, “but in bed you’re a naughty siren.”
I covered my face with my hands.
“Shut up!”
Ryder laughed and pulled me against his chest, hugging me tightly.
“Stay with me,” he said and kissed the crown of my head. “I want to bring you out for a few hours. Just me and you.”
I pulled back and looked up at him.
“Are... are you askin’ me out on a date?” I asked, my heart slamming into my chest.
Ryder smiled and brushed my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “I have a gut feeling that I want to get to know you better, and I always listen to my gut.”
My legs began to tremble.
“I thought this was just a one-night stand,” I whispered.
“I thought it was, too,” Ryder said, his eyes scanning my face, “but it’s more than that. I don’t know what it is, but one night with you isn’t enough.”
My stomach fluttered with butterflies.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I’d love to go out on a date with you.”
“Good.” Ry
der teasingly grinned. “I wasn’t taking no for an answer anyway.”
“Is that so?” I laughed, merrily. “Do you think you can get what you want from me so easily?”
“I do,” he replied, smugly. “And if all else fails, I’ve other methods at my disposal to persuade you into doing things my way.”
“Yeah?” I asked, my breathing picking up in pace. “What other methods would that be?”
Ryder pressed his front against mine and lowered his head, brushing his lips tenderly against me. I gasped when he bent down and his hands suddenly gripped my behind. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist when he lifted me into the air. He turned and walked over to the stairs.
“I can show you a lot better than I can tell you,” he said, grinning.
My laughter and his tangled together as he climbed the stairs, and soon after, so did our bodies in the most delicious of ways. I lay in Ryder’s bed long after we had sex for the third time and when I caught myself watching him sleep I knew I was royally screwed because I could see myself falling in love with him very easily if I wasn’t careful.
Guard your heart, my mind whispered as my eyes drifted shut. Don’t give him the power to break you.
I didn’t realise it then, but Ryder had the power to break me from the moment he locked his eyes on mine in Darkness, and there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do about it.
Present day…
I yelped with fright when a pink folder was dropped on the desk of the nurses station. I was reliving a moment from my past, and was completely blindsided by the sudden movement and noise.
“Sorry,” Ash’s voice quickly apologised. “I thought you heard me.”
I placed my hand over my chest, feeling my heart rapidly pound against my chest.
“I’m fine,” I breathed. “I was in a world of me own.”
I looked up and caught Ash frowning at me, so I waved his concerns off.
“I’m okay, just daydreamin’.”
He was hesitant for a moment and then nodded.
“It’s quiet on the ward, you can daydream if you want to.”
I snorted. “I wish I had that luxury. I want to keep a close eye on the patient in room one.”
“I just checked on her,” Ash said. “She got her epidural and is sleeping. Her husband is too. Everything is progressing well with her, a few more hours at most then she’ll deliver and be moved downstairs.”
My shoulders sagged with relief.
“Thank God,” I breathed. “I couldn’t take any more of her screamin’. I try me hardest to be considerate and never open me mouth about how the women deal with their pain, but damn, she hasn’t shut her mouth since she was brought on the ward.”
Ash snickered. “I could hear her, too. Sally said she was going to jam the gas and air down her throat if she didn’t give it a rest soon.”
As if summoned, Sally strolled down the hallway with two pink folders in her arms. The site of the folders caused me to groan, it meant two new patients were about to be admitted to the delivery ward and put into our care.
Sally was what we called the mother of the ward, and not because she was the eldest member of our staff, but because she was the most experienced. She had been at the hospital since it opened nearly thirty-five years ago and had the most deliveries under her belt. She was a delivery ward veteran, and everyone knew it. She was married to Doctor Hector Harris that ran the OR.
“Hey Sally,” I said when she looked up.
She stopped in front of the nurses station and gave me a bright smile. “Hello, Branna darlin’. Great job on your delivery time to the OR with the patient this mornin’, I read the report you and Ash submitted and Hector told me about it. Ninety-one seconds, that’s very fast. I’ve only capped at one zero two at the earliest, so be proud of yourself.”
I felt heat stain my cheeks with Sally’s praise, and my blush spread even further when I felt Ash’s approving gaze on me.
“Thanks, Sally,” I said but quickly added, “but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Ash and the others. It was a team effort.”
Sally winked. “That, right there, is why you’re such a good midwife, you act as a team and never a lone wolf.”
It was something she taught me when I used to volunteer at the hospital many years ago, and something that stayed with me. You aren’t better than your fellow midwife, and together in numbers you’re stronger.
“Well, I work with the best.” I smiled then looked to Ash and bumped him with my leg.
He snorted. “Sweet talker.”
Who is sweet talking who here?
I blinked away Ryder’s voice in my head and refocused on Sally who was talking to me and Ash.
“—should be a busy day, and we’ll have to keep a tight ship.”
Ash saluted Sally. “You got it, beautiful.”
Sally fanned herself. “If I wasn’t married and old enough to be your mother I’d—”
“Sally!” I cut her off with a laugh.
She waved me off. “What I’d do to him if I was your age is public knowledge, I always tell him.”
Ash grinned. “She does.”
“You’re both as bad as each other,” I chuckled.
Sally giggled as she ventured off to do her duties; I glanced at Ash who got to work evaluating the new patients’ folders. I shook my head at him and grabbed the second folder Sally brought us.
“Why’re you shaking your head?” he asked, not looking up from the folder.
I shrugged. “You amuse me.”
“Of course I do, I’m hilarious.”
Cocky shite, my mind teased.
“Hey Branna.”
I looked up at Yolanda, a lovely African lady who had been working the delivery ward as a cleaner since it first opened.
“Hey Yolanda,” I smiled. “How are you today?”
She gave me her trademark beaming smile, and it only caused me to mirror the action.
“I’m great, hon. Jesus woke me up this morning so I can’t complain.”
I felt the corners of my eyes crease as my smile deepened. “I’m glad to hear it, how are your grandkids? Are they over their dose of the flu?”
Yolanda blessed herself. “Yes, thank Jesus, I prayed every morning and night for them.” She frowned. “I hate seeing them so unwell, but I know Jesus will look after them.”
Yolanda was very religious, everything out of her mouth was ‘Jesus this and Jesus that’.
I nodded. “I can imagine. When Bronagh was sick growin’ up, I worried meself silly about every cold or stomach bug.”
Yolanda winked. “That’s what we do, we worry about our babies no matter how old they are. Jesus, help us.”
Ain’t that the truth, I thought.
“I hear you,” I said as she pushed her mop bucket down the hall in the direction of the supply room.
I looked over my shoulder to Ash when he exited the break room with two cups of tea in his hands. I groaned out loud and reached for my pink cup. “I could kiss you,” I said as I took the cup and sipped on the addictive sugary liquid.
Tea was—quite literally—my life; I could not function without it.
“You can’t go and do a thing like that,” Ash said. “You’d break Sally’s heart, she loves me, you know?”
I cocked a brow. “She loves the attention from you, that’s all.”
Ash grabbed his chest. “You heartless wench, how dare you dismiss what Sally and I have!”
It took everything in me not to laugh, or crack a smile.
“Just tellin’ you like it is,” I smirked. “Kid.”
Ash growled. “You have five-seconds.”
Oh, shit.
I stood up and quickly scurried around to the other side of our work counter, and placed my hands in front of my chest.
“Ash,” I warned, my voice low. “Don’t even think about it.”
He rounded the station and advanced on me, a smirk playing on his lips.
; “Don’t!” I said firmly, hoping my no-bullshit-demeanour would give him reason to stop.
It didn’t, if anything, it only fuelled the freak to come at me faster.
“No!” I shrieked and made a move to dive behind the counter but Ash was too fast, and caught me mid-air.
He set me down, and full on assaulted my sides with his fingertips as he tickled me. I laughed, shrieked some more, and did the strangest moves known to man as I made my bid to escape the terror.
“Mercy!” I laughed. “For the love of God, mercy!”
Ash pulled back on his tickling but kept hold of me as I steadied myself and came down from my laughing high. I was about to playfully sucker punch him and make a run for the break room when I heard my name being… bellowed.
I turned and looked down the hallway and raised my brows.
“Dominic?” I said aloud, hearing the confusion in my own voice. “What are you doin’ here?”
He was glaring as he walked up the hallway towards me.
“Bronagh can’t collect you today.” He said, or rather, growled. “She’s not feeling good, her morning sickness is still lasting most of the day, so I said I would come get you instead since I was on my way home from using the gym at your place. Who is he?”
I blinked, and glanced to my right when Ash moved to my side.
“Me?” he questioned, and pointed his finger at his chest.
“Yeah, you.” Dominic narrowed his eyes. “I’m looking at you, aren’t I?”
He wasn’t happy.
Ash cleared his throat and extended his hand. “My name is Ash Wade. I’m Branna’s co-worker... who are you?”
Dominic didn’t even glance at Ash’s hand as he said, “I’m her brother-in-law.”
Ash furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and lowered his hand back to his side when it was evident Dominic wasn’t going to shake it.
“Branna isn’t married.”
Thanks for the reminder, I silently grumbled.
“That’s a technicality,” Dominic’s eye twitched. “She’s dating my brother, and has been for a long ass time. They’re engaged.”